The Cycling Gentleman

Regular readers are aware that I have been extremely bad about updating the image gallery. To facilitate the process of updating, I have moved the gallery to a Picasa album. You can still click on the “Gallery” tab at the top of the page, and there you’ll find a link to the updated gallery.

FYI, if you type “gallery” enough times, it starts to look wrong.

I’m conflicted. You see, I started this blog to promote a sense of everyday bicycle style, nothing fancy, just the idea that all clothes are potentially cycling clothes, not just expensive race-inspired spandex costumes. The idea was, in some small way, to democratize access to the bicycle as a form of transportation. Too many Americans still believe that you can only ride a bicycle in specialized clothing. So, I didn’t have just bicycle commuters in mind, but also folks who ride bicycles for errands, recreation, whatever.

Well, I get this promotional email the other day from a new company called OUTLIER, with the slogan “Clothing for Cycling in the City.” Cool, I think, this looks right up my alley. I go to their site, and find these apparently amazing black trousers. So amazing, in fact, that based on the sales pitch, you may not ever have to take them off. It’s a young company, just getting started, and still very small. Awesome, I think, just the kind of thing I’d like to promote. But then I saw the price: $240 for a pair of pants.

If you want these pants, and can afford them, great. They’re probably the greatest single thing you’ll ever own. Problem is, myself and most of the people I know couldn’t possibly afford to drop this much on a pair of pants, even if they came with super powers and cash stuffed in the pockets. I’ve posted about high-end “everyday” cycling garments before, and I wonder if this niche market isn’t simply a continuation of the idea that you need special clothes for cycling.

A lot of folks will say, “what’s the big deal, this is just a small company making a product to make our lives better, leave ‘em alone.” I couldn’t agree more, and if you really want these trousers (and there are sane reasons to want them), you go buy them, and feel good about supporting this small company. I don’t think this post is going to stop anyone from doing that. My only point is that you don’t need $240 trousers (or shoes, or shorts, or jerseys) to ride a bike, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

OUTLIER

LIFE Magazine and Google have joined forces to create a vast photo archive of images, many of which were never published in the magazine. A search for “bicycle” turned up 200 images, including this one of a very dapper (and very young) Jerry Lewis on the set of “The Stooge” (1953, Paramount).

Or a muffler, if you please.

From the very excellent Science and Society Picture Library.

This fellow, spotted by Charlotte, has an interesting mix of the modern and the classic. The suit says Amsterdam or Copenhagen businessman, while the cap, backpack and hybrid bicycle say American college student. Someone get this man a vintage Raleigh three-speed and some baskets, quick!

Spotted by bicyclesonly in New York City.

I especially like the shirt collar turned down over the jacket. Although how those white trousers have stayed so clean, I would love to know. Spotted in kapooosha’s Flickr photostream and used with permission.

He rode his bike to work! What he’s thinking: “My commute was a lot more fun than all these poor suckers who drove.” Spotted in Deerfield, Massachusetts by plastereddragon. More work by this photographer here.